Year in Review: Highs, Lows, and Change

I had aimed to write something for the holiday season, but with travel and celebrating the holiday, time got away from me. So I decided to end the year with one more post, a year in review.

As years go, this one certainly has its ups and downs, and I’ll cover those in time. But let’s start at the beginning, with January…

This year started like every year, with another birthday. Having a January birthday means I get to celebrate something right out of the gate, and this year was the 31st such occasion.

February started out great with the Arizona Balloon Classic and getting to see the Angelica Tour of Hamilton live at ASU Gammage. But sadly, February ended with the passing of my Oma, just barely a week before we were set to fly to Germany for a visit at the beginning of March. The low point of March was a funeral, but the highlight was getting to spend as much time as possible with my Opa.

And it was good we did so, as late May saw the passing of my Opa. That same weekend I was working at Phoenix ComicFest. In hindsight, I am glad it happened that weekend, it gave me the opportunity to focus on something else. June saw Mom returning to Germany for the funeral. But we also got the opportunity to visit the Pompeii Exhibit at the Arizona Science Center, which was a very interesting experience.

Our first highlight after a rough few months, was seeing my adorable niece again in July. We took Lilyan to Legoland and the Sealife Aquarium at the Arizona Mills Mall. She had a lot of fun and we greatly enjoyed spending time with her. But we also traveled to Vegas to see Steve Martin and Martin Short for their comedy tour, staying at Cesar’s Palace for the first time. Having been a fan of both gentleman for a long time, The Three Amigos being one of my favorite films. So getting to see two icons of my childhood live was a dream come true.

August came along with a concert that Mom was nice enough to indulge me on, by accompanying me while I finally got to see Weezer along with the Pixies, for an amazing concert. But then, we had the experience of a lifetime, and what I would considered the greatest vacation of my life thus far; our trip to Hawaii at the end of the month.

September was just another month, but October saw a huge life event. I had all my belongings packed into large crates, loaded up my car with everything else, and drove across the country to move in with boyfriend in Pennsylvania. It was a big step, but one I happily made, in order to see our relationship continue to grow.

After my arrival, I was able to attend a movie premier, for a movie based on a real event that took place in the Lehigh Valley area, Billboard. This was in early November. Later in the month, my mom came to visit us for Thanksgiving.

In December, I got to see Penn & Teller for the first time, for what was a really fun magic show. And before I flew home to spend Christmas with my mom and sister, I got to experience Hanukah with Jason and his parents. I flew back to Phoenix and got to work in the office with my team for a day and half, plus spend Christmas Eve with family at my grandparents’ house and Christmas Day with Mom and my sister.

Overall, the positives of this year outweigh the negatives, though the negatives were pretty heavy. With that in mind, I’m looking forward to what the New Year will bring and putting the old one behind me.